Saarland Destination December 2010: Saarbruecken Christkindlmarkt

Ho-Ho-Ho! Christmas is in the air! And I proudly present the Saarland destination December 2010: Saarbruecken Christkindlmarkt.

What is that actually? It's a Christmas market. It is held annually from Bahnhofstrasse to St. Johanner Markt from the end of November until Christmas day.





I actually cannot say anything about the market. It is very great. And it's the reason to be happy in this cold weather.

The foods

1. Dampfnudel


It is actually like mantou. Do you know that Chinese food? There are two kinds of mantou: steamed and fried. So is Dampfnudel. Unfortunately I cannot find the fried one in Saarbruecken. Of course Dampfnudel is different with mantou. Dampfnudel is served with vanilla sauce. And it is a great food during the cold weather because it's sweet and warm. It costs 2,30 EUR per portion.
My tips: Add cinnamon and sugar! It smells even better with cinnamon

2. Reibekuchen

It reminds me of Bala-Bala, an Indonesian snack. It is made of grated potatoes and then they are deep-fried. There are several ways to eat it. You can also have an Apfelmus, a dressing made from apple. But because I don't really like apple, I have no topping at all. Reibekuchen tastes also good with salmons and mayonaise. One portion contains 3 Reibekuchen and it costs 3 EUR per portion.
My tips: Take a lot of tissue papers. Reibekuchen are oily.

3. Schneeballen

Schneeballen means snow balls. Perhaps this sweet food get its name due to its shape. There are various flavors like Nutella, Rhum, etc. I'm unfortunately not a fan, so I can't say anything about this food. Each ball costs about 2 EUR, depends on the flavor of course.

4. Schwenker


Photos by Gerry Prayogo
THIS! This is so delicious! It is called Schwenker, it means like Barbeque. It's actually Saarlandish, even not all Germans know this food. It is basically just grilled pork and served with a bun. It costs 3,50 EUR and it is very big. You will have your stomach full after eating this. It tastes even better than normal steaks in restaurants. It can be found easily in Saarland actually. In summer festivals you can find it a lot as well.
My tips: The good schwenker is grilled above woods, not above coal.

5. Lebkuchen
Have a date? Buy him or her this gingerbread!

This only exists at Christmas market. They're gingerbreads with sentences like "Ich liebe dich" which means "I love you". The words are interesting actually like "Fuer mein Schatz" which means "for my honey" or even no-love-related sentences like Frohe Weihnachten (Merry Christmas).
My tips: hang it around your couple's neck after buying it. That's the tradition.

6. Coated fruits

Photo by Gerry Prayogo
Well, you know what this is. I recommend you the bananas.


What to do?

1. Buy these high quality wool products
Of course you need something to prevent coldness, and buy these handmade wool products.


2. Buy Saarlandish stuffs

Yes, this Made in Saarbrigge offers you Saarlandish stuffs like T-Shirt with rhyme "Oh Leck!" on it. And many kinds of interesting things. I also bought a Christmas card with Saarlandish greetings on it. Stated on the cards "Frohe Weihnachde un e gudden Rutsch ins neije Johr!". Lol. In German, it would be "Frohe Weihnachten und einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr!".

3. DRINK!

Photo by Gerry Prayogo
Yes, spend a time to drink Gluehwein (boiled wine). It costs only 2,50 EUR. Or my favorite drink is actually Knecht Ruprecht (picture shown above). That's Bailey's mixed with hot chocolate. It tastes really good.

4. Listen to the Christmas carols
Yes, these musicians play Christmas carols and I don't know but Christmas carols always make me joyful. Don't forget to have a Gluehwein as well while listening to the carols.


5. Entertainment for the kids

They'll be happy for sure.

And, the main event is...

6. See the flying Santa Claus

Every 5 PM and 7 PM there is a flying Santa or fliegende Weihnachtsmann or Le père noel volant. He rides a carriage pulled by the reindeers from McDonald's to St. Johannermarkt. And then he tells children stories and Christmas tales. There's always fireworks afterwards! This is just great. I am always happy after seeing this spectacular show.


Unfortunately it's almost over. I'm going to miss Christmas market again. See you next year! And merry Christmas everyone!

2 Great Restaurants in Kaiserslautern and Mannheim

2 days ago I went to Kaiserslautern, Germany to dine with my friends at my favorite restaurant in Germany, Cantina Mexicana.

Why do I love this restaurant?

First, when you're there, it feels like you're not in Germany but in the US. The US Army has a base in Kaiserslautern, Germany. I never know the reason why they have it there but they make Kaiserslautern a very unique city. It is not unusual to hear people speak English in big cities like Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich or Cologne. But in small town like Kaiserslautern? Yes, Kaiserslautern is a small town in Germany but we can hear people speak English everywhere there. And in Cantina Mexicana some waitresses and staffs can hardly speak German. It's not a problem at all for them because basically most of their guests are Americans... American armies.

Second, every Wednesday the restaurant has this all-you-can-eat baby pork ribs! I mean a pork rib is very expensive. And we can eat pork ribs as many as we can there with only about 9 Euros!

And the foods taste so great. The nacho, the fajita quesadilla, and the fried ice cream. They all taste very great. The place is also very cozy and 'mexican'. Last Wednesday a Mexican trio sang and played music for all the guests in the restaurant. The staffs are all very friendly and helpful too.

So how to get there? Well the nearest train station is Einsiedlerhof. It is only about 2 or 3 stations from Kaiserslautern Hauptbahnhof. And then you have to walk for about 8-10 minutes to the restaurant. But of course if you have a GPS in your car just type the address of the restaurant.




photo taken from speisekarte.de

photo by Yana C. Jurnatan

Cantina Mexicana
Kaiserstrasse 117
67661 Kaiserslautern
Germany
Tel: +49 (0) 631 99328



The next day, I went to Mannheim. I just found out that the ticket to Mannheim is very cheap. You can buy this 24+ ticket from any ticket ATMs in Rhein-Neckar (well cities like Kaiserslautern, Neustadt, Ludwigshafen, etc.). It costs 20 Euro for the whole day and you can take 4 persons with you.

Mannheim is a nice city. For me, it is like a smaller version of Frankfurt. And Mannheim is also not far from Frankfurt by the way.


Wasserturm in Mannheim

But the best part of Mannheim is Supan's Kueche. Well that's a Thai snack bar in the city center. Why is it so special? Because Supan's Kueche has that original Thai foods. My favorite food is probably the La Ped (not sure how to write that correctly). It is a salad served with duck meats. And it is very very very spicy. The tomyam is also great. I definitely have to come back to Mannheim and eat here again. And also, the restaurant has Thai ice tea with milk just like in Indonesia.


Lha Ped at Supan's Kueche, Mannheim

Thai Ice Tea at Supan's Kueche, Mannheim

How to get there? It is in the center. And you can go by tram from Mannheim Hauptbahnhof to Paradeplatz. Then you have to go on foot. I guess you should first find a Commerzbank and Nordsee. Well, just call

Supan's Kueche
Tel.: +49 (0) 621 26172


And here are some snapshots taken in Mannheim by Yana C Jurnatan.

Recipe: Poulet en Sauce Hollandaise

Hello. Actually I didn't plan to post 2 blogs in a day. But I just had a dinner and it was worth-posting.

Do you buy something you don't really need it just because you're in a good mood? Well, I do. And that sucks. Sometimes I buy useless things just because the weather's great. However, it has positive sides.

I was once very happy. And I went into Aldi buying some stuffs. And I found waffles. Well, waffles aren't very important stuff, right? I mean I can still live without waffle. But I was such in a good mood that I bought it. I put butter on it and it tastes like heaven. Now I always have this waffle at home.

So, I was once again in a very good mood. I went to Aldi. I was queuing and then I found this product. It was....



Price: 0,79 EUR. I cooked it today for dinner. It was magnificent and easy.

Ingredients:
-butter
-potato
-carrot
-rice (optional)
-chicken (better with fish actually)
-of course the holy KIM GOURMET SAUCE HOLLANDAISE MIT CREME FRAICHE


Instructions:
1. Cook rice and chicken with rice cooker and wait until cooked
2. Cut potatoes and carrots (shape? whatever)
3. Heat butter on a pan
4. Fry potatoes, carrots and chicken with the butter
5. Pour the sauce hollandaise

TA-DA!~~~


Poulet en Sauce Hollandaise

And, served with a red wine. That would be better. It's funny I don't have red wine glass so I used this glass instead. And an advise from me: Broccolis would make it taste better. And, I think this is not the right food if you're on a strict diet. You know, it's so creamy and it contains quite lots of butter.

Well, if you want to cook this, I wish you good luck! Bon appetit!